Doug Bennett

While some newspapers are tiptoeing into iPad apps with replica editions of their print products, The Orange County Register has developed something quite different: a curated editorial product published late in the day.

The Register’s approach to the iPad is fundamentally different than many newspapers. Instead of asking themselves how to get all their newspaper content onto the iPad, they started from scratch to design a product tailored to the demographics and behaviors of tablet users.

In the process, the app is breaking conventions by publishing in the evening and limiting its scope to a handful of most-desired topics.

The table of contents for the OC Register iPad app shows the day’s hand-picked stories.

The OC Register for iPad app is a “curated experience,” said Doug Bennett, the president of the Freedom Interactive division of Freedom Communications, which owns the Register.